President's Message

April 2008 (v2.1)
Rob Limbaugh - President

Beginning from the End
Last year, when I wrote my inaugural column, it never surfaced in my mind that I’d end up serving a second term. The experience has been a roller-coaster. There have been many challenges on many fronts—more than I expected. On occasion I’ve frustrated myself by not meeting a goal that I thought was attainable. Overall, the experiences have been a good learning experience even if I didn’t like the way the lesson was going.

Probably the best area that required the most stretching was from November to February because it forced a shifting of gears. My trip to Vegas in January for CES and the APCUG annual conference was probably the best move I’ve made personally and professionally (regarding technology) in a long time. The knowledge obtained from APCUG, as it pertains to DACS members, was invaluable.

Comments Count!
Over the course of my first year, I expected to get some sort of emails from the members. There have been few. As a reminder, please feel free to submit comments, ideas, and suggestions to input@dacs.org so DACS can better satisfy the needs and concerns of the members.

Who Likes a Bargain?
Did you know that your DACS Membership can pay for itself? Yes, it can. One of the most valuable things learned at the APCUG Conference this year was the fact that DACS Members are entitled to some preferential pricing with some vendors through alliances they are willing to extend directly to computer and technology user groups.

What we need now is a natural deal-sleuth that can establish these alliances and keep our members updated with the information they need to take advantage of these discounts. The membership would be extremely grateful to the person who can turn this into something outstanding for everyone!

It’s a Group Effort
We realize that not everyone can (or wants) to be a SIG Leader, Webmaster, Newsletter Editor, Newsletter Contributor, Board Member, or Officer. And that’s fine—nobody is obligated to volunteer for those roles. For many people, that’s more involved than they ever wish to be. Again, that’s perfectly fine.

This is where you, the member comes in. While DACS doesn’t require members to attend General Meetings or SIGs, we should all want to show support for ourselves by being there if at all possible. Remember that the General Meeting is where our strength in numbers should show best.

At the February meeting I talked briefly about vendor expectations when companies consider sending representatives or merchandise to user groups. For the benefit of those who weren’t present, the gist of the discussion was that vendors are looking for a “Return On Investment”. To them, it takes real time and resources that they have to justify.

Again, this is where strength in numbers can have a very direct and positive affect for everyone. Remember to invite friends, neighbors, and coworkers to the April meeting who may be interested in learning how to keep their computers safe from malicious software.

Beyond that, I’d like to hear some ideas (send to input@dacs.org) on how to boost attendance in some creative and new ways. One suggestion has been that there are companies willing to do ‘virtual’ meetings which could allow people to attend through a live web connection. Is there interest in this? Another idea was carpooling. Is there anyone who would be interested?

Signing out…
I’ll be looking forward to your comments and plan to see you at the April Meeting!

 - Rob

ROB LIMBAUGH
relimbaugh@dacs.org